Wednesday, June 13, 2012

My Interview With the Owner of: MORBID VISION FILMS

A lot of you might not know who Morbid Vision Films is, but i can attest after this interview you'll want to go out and buy their DVDs. So let's pick the brain of the man behind Morbid Visions Films.

Chris:Brian, first please tell us a little
about yourself, where are you from?

Brian: I’m from Seekonk ,MA, which is a small town
about ten minutes from Providence Rhode Island. This is where we shoot all of
our movies for Morbid Vision Films. I have been obsessed with horror films
since I first saw The Howling back when I was about thirteen years old. But
even before that I was a kid who loved Halloween, ghosts, monsters and
everything that was said to be lurking in the dark. I have always been
fascinated by the unknown and the occult, which definitely inspires the kind of
stories I like to tell. Music is also
very important to me. I have my own Black Metal project that I have been
working on for years in which I will hopefully get around to recording some
day.

Chris:Who inspired you to become an indie
horror filmmaker?

Brian: My interest was ignited the first time I saw the
video Scream Great’s Vol.1 – Tom Savini back in the 1988. I thought it was a
behind the scenes look at horror films, not realizing it was about a special
make-up artist. Tom Savini’s work fascinated me so much that I started trying
to learn how to do effects that weekend. I sold some expensive stuff and
ordered everything I thought I needed to do make-up effects. The problem I had
was that I quickly became bored with spending hours creating an effect then
removing it after taking a few photos. At this same time The Evil Dead had become my
favorite movie and I was watched it over and over again. That movie inspired me
to start writing and want to go beyond simply be a viewer and to take part some
how. That’s when my friend Rich George and I started shooting short horror
videos in 1990.

Chris :Your films are always high
on the blood and gore factor, do you pride yourselves on that as a company?

Brian: Absolutely. I’m proud of the fact that we have
become known as one of the bloodiest film companies in America. It’s what got
us noticed, especially after Unearthed Films signed us. I have always been a
fan of extreme gore. I saw Peter Jackson’s BrainDead in the theater and it was
one of the most fun theater experiences I have ever had. I enjoy shocking
people and it’s fun to try to top ourselves with each movie. It’s amazing that
we managed to build a fan base that waits to see what we are going to do next,
and I think of them all the time while we make a movie. We could have finished
shooting Cryptic Plasm by now, but I keep coming up with more over the top
ideas and elaborate effects. And each effect is spewing over a gallon of blood
on each take. We always do at least 2 or 3 takes each time. That is a lot of
blood! We make movies to please the underground gore scene.

Chris:You seem to get a lot of big name
"indie talent" for your films, is that due to the high quality in
your scripts?

Brian: It’s definitely not because of the scripts
that’s for sure because I hardly ever have a finished one to show anyone! I’ve
had the opportunity to meet quite a few people and people will usually get
involved just from talking with them and asking them if they would be interested.
If we ever get the opportunity to raise a budget we actually have the personal
information of a lot of horror icons that said they would be in one of our
films. It’s just a matter of being able to pay their fees, which we haven’t
been able to do yet.

Chris:For my readers out there dieing to get
a look at your body of work, where can they a trailer or the like?

Brian: Most of our trailers are uploaded on youtube.
Cryptic Plasm, Bone Sickness, Fetus, BloodPigs are all there. As well as the
foreign trailers for Bone Sickness. They can also go to our website and click
on the trailers page at http://www.morbidvisionfilms.com

Chris:As an indie horror director, what are
your thoughts on the indie horror community versus that of Hollywood?

Brian: That main difference is that the indie horror
scene is more concerned with making a movie rather than churning out the latest
assembly line product whose one goal is a big opening weekend. The indie horror
scene is like one big fan community where the filmmakers themselves are fans as
well and enjoy hanging out and talking movies with fellow horror fans. The
indie horror scene has been a bit blurred now though with the internet, VOD,
Netflix etc, because underground films are sitting right along side major films
now. Bone Sickness made it into three different major
rental chains and was sitting right next to The Bone Collector on Hollywood
Video’s shelves! I even received hate mail from people who were “20 year
veterans of Hollywood” who were pissed at me because they thought I had no
business being there when their “film” friends had 35mm films collecting dust
in their closets. That was amusing.

Chris:You do all your in house special
effects, did you go to a school for that or learn it the classic way (on the
job)?

Brian: I actually learned most of the techniques by
watching instructional videos. If you don’t have the money to go to a school,
videos are a great learning tool. The best video I bought was called Michael
Burnett’s Techniques of Special Make-up Effects Vol. 2. It taught you from
start to finish how to create a facial foam latex appliance. I also signed up
for Dick Smith’s Advanced Special Make-up Effects course and learned a lot. I
had the opportunity to speak with Dick Smith on the phone a couple times. He is
an extremely nice person.

Chris:What is your main goal with your
company, do you want to go bigger?

Brian: My main goal is to be able to make this company
profitable enough to be able to turn making movies into a full time career, and
for me to be able to hire my friends that volunteer their time to work as crew.
I would love to go bigger because I have some ideas that are large scale and
will take a lot more money to be able to pull off. As long as I am still free
to make the kind of movies I want to make, there is no reason for us to stay
underground. Movies should be seen by as many people as possible. If they can
stomach them that is. The one thing I will never give in to though is using cgi
for creatures and gore. Morbid Vision Films will always remain a practical
effects company.

Chris:What was your favorite movie, or movie
monster tv show as a child?

Brian: Growing up in the early eighties in
Massachusetts, we had Creature Double Feature on Boston’s Channel 56. This was
the best show ever! Every Saturday afternoon I would be in front of the
television set watching Godzilla, Daimajin, Gamera, War of the Gargantuas,
Reptilicus! It was one of the best parts of my childhood that probably had a
huge impact on what I do today. Godzilla vs the Smog Monster was probably my
favorite movie that they played.

Chris:Thank you for the interview Brian, if
you have any websites or movies you'd like to plug now, please do so sir.

Brian: Thank you for your interest! You
can find us on Face Book under morbidvisionfilms and our dvds are for sale on
Ebay and www.morbidvisionfilms.com
And watch out for Cryptic Plasm to be released on dvd around Halloween 2012.

About Me

I'm a CO-screenwriter for the script SUCCUBUS:THE BEGINNING, I am also currently working on other screenplay projects and short stories. I am also currently in the process of starting up my own productions company.
follow me on twitter at: @BleedingMeBlack